Govt asks PSBs to achieve targets allocated under social security schemes

The union finance ministry on Thursday asked public sector banks (PSBs) to work towards achieving the targets allocated to them for the current financial year under various social security schemes including MUDRA, Jan Dhan and small insurance and pension schemes.

Department of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi chaired the review meeting attended by heads of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and financial institutions.

During the meeting, Joshi asked the banks to work on making customer experience more enriching.

Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has already been requested to expedite the Consumer Service Rating for all Scheduled Commercial Banks to gauge the consumer expectation and to enable banks to raise their standards of services delivery to every segment of the customer, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Finance.

The progress of the schemes that was reviewed during the meeting include Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri MUDRA and Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi), and Agri credit.

Besides reviewing the progress under the social security schemes promoting financial inclusion, PSBs were exhorted to achieve the targets allocated to them under the schemes for the FY 2022-23, the finance ministry said.

It was also discussed that banks should organise financial literacy camps so that awareness about various financial inclusion schemes including micro-insurance schemes, digital financial transactions including UPI Lite can be further promoted, it added.

The government has asked banks to use PM-KISAN database to provide Kisan Credit Card (KCC) facility. The progress of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme was also reviewed.